T he library is enormous, a few stories high with additional loft-like levels. Looks more like a human public library back in my city, than the royal library we had at the mansion. That’s definitely not what I expected from a castle. It makes me look around for a desk with a librarian, but there isn’t any.

“Alpha asks if you want to lead the fighting pit again,” Atlas gets a hold of my undivided attention with his first word.

“I do, but why didn’t he ask me that himself?”

His eyes glaze over for a second or two, and I know he asks him back. I’m not even surprised Cain has him on a constant mind link anymore.

“Alpha says you blocked him?” he narrows his eyes at me—probably wondering if it’s even possible and why I’m able to do that.

I automatically put my fingers to my temples—as if my head was some computer with buttons I could check, and then cringe at my momentary stupidity. Atlas snorts with short laughter.

“Take me to the restricted section while I talk with him myself.”

“What are we, Hogwarts?” he mumbles under his breath, but leads me between countless rows of bookshelves—so there must be some special section after all.

I seek the connection with Cain and try to mind-link him—not knowing if the mate bond allows me to do that, or if I am simply unblocking his alpha-based link.

‘ Cain? Sorry, I tried to block just my thoughts, I swear. ’

‘ I know ,’ his deep sexy voice resounds in my head. ‘ Well, will you lead the training? ’

‘ Yes —’

‘ Great, see you at dinner then. ’ He seems to be in a rush.

‘ Why? I mean… won’t you come to the training? ’ I don’t even know why I sound so disappointed at this.

I mean, of course he won’t, that’s why he asked me. Plus, he wounded me during that thing yesterday, for fuck’s sake! Oh, and the choking?! I shouldn’t care if he’ll be there at all!

‘If you’ll help me with the warrior training, I’ll be able to visit and help more people in the city ,’ he admits, as if he’s some golden hands-on-approach Alpha, not a dark Rogue Prince.

‘ Oh, okay, see you —’ I feel Cain disconnecting me from his mind before I can even finish saying that.

“How much time do we have before the fighting pit?” I ask Atlas, who just stopped at the far end of the library—near the shelves filled with thick, leather-bound, promisingly old-looking books.

It’s early evening. I go to the dining hall after the gruesome training, because Atlas insists we have to meet with my husband before going to the city.

I stand behind Claudia, with Atlas on my right, and put my hands on her chair. She smiles up at me, and I smile back.

“What do you mean, not staying?” Cain looks at me with an arched brow.

He is very handsome. I could stare at his sharp jaw for ages, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to actually spend that much time with him. That’s why I asked Atlas out. For drinks and fun in the city.

Far away from him .

“I’m going out with your gamma,” I say, knowing full well that if I called Atlas by his name out loud, I would not be going anywhere with him or near him ever again. “It's evening, I am allowed to have some fun, right? Alpha?”

“Okay, I’ll go with you.” He reaches for his sword resting beside his throne, as always, and I’m suddenly very close to getting a full-blown panic attack.

I really don’t want to be near him and this whole confusing mate bond—that made me come back here, instead of staying safely with my family that I actually love.

Again, what was I thinking?

“No, thank you, Alpha.”

“No?” He looks at me with lifted brows and a very unamused expression—I feel Atlas shift beside me to a more defensive position.

“I’m sorry, Alpha, but I don’t want to spend my free time with someone who choked me to the point of brain damage.”

Somehow, I manage to say it with all the politeness in my voice, but the words themselves make Claudia choke on her food, so I gently pat her back.

Cain growls angrily, but doesn’t move.

“I’ll go with them,” his Beta stands up with a bored look on his sharp face.

Oh! I’m sure he offers only because he knows Cain is jealous of Atlas, whose sweatshirt I still shamelessly have on me, because why the fuck not. It’s cold.

“I don’t want to spend my free time with someone who attacks me for fun, either, thank you,” I say, looking straight into Beta Lucifer's eyes. “And I don’t care how gay you are, it was a sexual assault.”

I grab Atlas's hand and lead him with long quick strides to the exit. He tries to discreetly pull his hand away, probably not wanting to anger his Alpha any further—but I use all my alpha strength to hold it so they all have to deal with it. Atlas doesn’t stand a chance with his beta blood and gamma position.

I am furious, and my blood is boiling after telling them what I think.

‘ May I remind you that we are married? ’ Cain’s voice invades my brain, along with a little ping of pain.

‘ Oh, I wish I could forget that ,’ I shoot back and block him out, knowing how now.

“Well, did you have your fun?” My sexy Rogue Prince asks as soon as I enter our bedroom, slamming the door closed in front of Atlas’s nose.

I giggle.

He immediately pulls me to the bed. My head is spinning. He sits and lays me over his lap on my stomach, ass up.

I giggle even more, and then I feel Cain’s warm hands on my bare ass under the dress. He growls—probably realizing I haven’t worn any underwear all day. He takes his hand off my ass, and readjusts my dress to keep it up at my waist. And at that very moment, my brain finally registers that he wants to spank me!

My stomach tightens with anticipation, and I hold my breath awaiting the first hit. Wow, being pulled over someone’s lap is way more arousing than I ever thought it could be!

Slap!

Ou. It fucking stings—I love it.

“That’s for getting drunk again,” he says, rubbing the spot he just hit. “That’s for not wearing any panties while training and having fun with my men.” He spanks me again, and rubs it the same way. “And that’s for getting aroused by your punishment, stop moaning!”

I cover my mouth with my hands, embarrassed by the realization I was moaning the whole time, and another giggle escapes. He slaps me again, harder than before, and I yelp.

That one fucking hurt!

Still, I like it more than I should.

Cain helps me stand up from his lap and—still sitting—looks at Atlas’ sweatshirt disapprovingly.

“You made me all wet,” I say, stepping between his legs and grabbing his jaw in my hand, the same way he always grabs mine. I lean down to kiss him, but he bites my lower lip and moves his head away.

“And you made yourself so drunk, you don’t care that I choked you.”

“Oh, you can choke me,” I wiggle my brows at the thought of his huge hand, wrapping around my throat while he is slamming inside me, hard and fast…

“Ash, you are drunk. Go to sleep.” He frees himself from me and stands up.

I throw myself on the bed, face down, with a frustrated groan.

“Where is my vibrator when I need it,” I mumble into the bedding, and Cain’s gorgeous laugh is the last thing I register.

I wake up naked with a tray of food already on my nightstand, but Cain is nowhere to be found—I don’t want to mind-link him by myself unless necessary, so I can’t ask him if we had sex after all.

Maybe he just helped me undress.

I notice my new phone on the center of Cain's desk, and I get up to grab it. Weird. It’s open on the photo of Cain’s birth announcement that Ella sent me at the party, but it’s in a new conversation with an unsaved number. Hmm, is it Cain’s number? He’s so arrogantly confident that he didn’t even hide the fact he used my phone without asking. Oh! He had to connect to the internet to send himself that message. I open Wi-Fi settings, but with no luck. He let me see what he was doing with my phone, but made sure to not leave the connection on.

Someone’s cocky!

Well, at least he didn’t crush the phone this time… Goddess, the bar is so low .

“Do you want to come to the office with me?” Cain abruptly opens the doors and walks in—in only his black joggers, and beads of sweat covering his naked torso. Or it might be just water, he smells ridiculously delicious, and I don’t know what he would have to do as an alpha werewolf to actually sweat that much.

Every day from now on, I wake up in an empty room, eat breakfast, skip running—still feeling sore after training with Cain’s guys the day before—help around the kitchen, Cain’s office, or with the fighting pit in the afternoon. After dinner I go for drinks and dancing with Atlas or Claudia, or both. They bicker a lot but it’s entertaining, so I don’t mind at all. I’m getting better at knowing my limits with wolfsbane-infused alcohol, and I don’t drink anything when I’m only with Claudia—so the spanking situation never repeats.

I do get my passive-aggressive, scrubbing clean baths from Cain when I’m back in our room, though.

The guys I threw a book at on my first morning here, are avoiding me so religiously that I start thinking that the water and bedding are changing themselves for fresh ones, like magic.

Hm, we are werewolves, there are Lycan’s descendants here too… maybe magic is not that impossible?

During days, I spend every Cain-free moment in the library looking for the book Atlas used on Claudia. He doesn’t come with me there anymore, which was the goal, so I’m happy about it. The problem is—I have to look for it by myself because there are no workers here, and even if someone was working here, I would be afraid to trust them not to tell their Alpha. Or King.

I’m impressed by how well-kept the library is—considering no one is designated to take care of it and how many people are visiting it every day. Mostly young women in a surprisingly well-stocked erotic section. I guess you do your job at putting everything back together, and then double-check it just to be sure, when the person responsible for your punishment is a ruthless Rogue Alpha Prince .

Somehow everyone seems to like him. Fear him, of course, but like him. Like he’s a good alpha. It's weird after growing up in a place where he is the definition of a devil, and the main character of all werewolf horror stories. Especially when you know they are true.

One time I even overheard some girls calling him the Prince of Darkness, in a very endearing way. Their faces turned beet red when they noticed me nearby.

Every night, on the other hand—after all the duties, ritual-book hunting, fighting pit, avoiding Cain in my Atlas-and-Claudia-infused free time, and passive-aggressive baths—I lay in our bed, wrapped in my exhausted husband’s arms. And nothing .

He just sleeps. Sleeps! Okay, I was angry with him for the whole brain damage situation, but I always knew how twisted he is and it never stopped me from having sex with him before. And now, being pressed to his incredibly gorgeous body every night, his dick resting against my ass… It isn't exactly a pure-thoughts-friendly environment!

He’s probably just tired again, he gets up at unholy hours every day, and then works both mentally and physically all day… but it’s still a little bit infuriating. It’s not like I have any toys here to help myself with all of the pent-up frustration…

Oh my Goddess, I just reduced the Rogue Alpha Prince to a sex toy. Unused sex toy.

No, no, no, I can’t think like that!

Cain is already sleeping when I return to our dark room this fine, late Saturday evening—after dancing with Claudia and Gaia, whose son was sleeping with noise-canceling headphones in the carrier on her chest the whole time.

Prince of Darkness , I think with a smile, while I try to move him on the bed. His legs are out as if he fell asleep sitting on the edge waiting for me to come back .

“No, no, I have to help you bathe,” he murmurs with his eyes still closed, when I start pulling him up.

Have to?

“How did you know it was me?” I ask, trying to investigate if he’s starting to feel the mate bond while he’s still sleepy enough for me to escape.

Well. Could I even escape? If he felt the true mate bond, he would find me anywhere…

“You are the only person who touches me without permission,” he mumbles back, wraps his hand around my waist, and squeezes me.

“I’m your wife, do I need permission?” I try to move him a little more.

“I’m so fucking tired.”

“I know, go back to sleep.”

I stop in my tracks when he clutches my hips, lifts his head to my crotch, and inhales deeply.

“Um, Cain?” I pat his shoulder, as if it would help me free myself from his tight grip.

He lays back, eyes still closed, looking unconscious, but grunts in frustration.

“I’m so tired. And so horny. Are you still mad at me?” he asks, all sleepy and whiny, and I can’t believe that’s why he have not tried to initiate any sex with me.

He thought I was mad at him for the choking. Well, he’s not wrong, but also… How can I be mad at him when he’s so cute?

“I’m not that mad,” I admit, and lean down to kiss his slightly parted full lips.

I stop at the last moment. What the fuck?!

No, no, no. What am I even doing? Kissing him while he sleeps because he’s cute ?! Rogue Prince?! Because what? Because he didn’t think I would want sex with him after he almost gave me permanent brain damage? Where are my standards, and why so fucking low?! Maybe he did give me permanent brain damage!

I stand up.

“Tomorrow is Sunday, so I’ll be able to finally take you on that date,” he says like a model boyfriend, and for a second, I think he will stand up after all.

I look at him but don’t say anything. He keeps telling me about this date but I couldn’t care less.

I start undressing, ready to be scrubbed clean by him after the long taxing day. But he’s out of it again, so I enter the fresh, steaming water waiting for me in the tub, and for the first time in forever—just relax.

I wake up to the feeling of my panties being pulled down my ass. I’m lying on my side and Cain is pressed behind me—as always at night—but I can see by how bright it is that it’s already morning.

I moan lightly, then gasp quietly when he slides his fingers between my folds and starts rubbing my clit.

“Good morning, Little Wolf,” he purrs into my neck.

“Um, hi?” I don’t know how to act after being woken up like this, and I’m having a hard time not grinding my hips on him.

I mean… Cain’s my mate, and he’s sexy, and I don’t mind. I just had a steaming hot dream about him, and his huge body pressed against me makes me wet every night. And I was kind of mad when he didn’t initiate anything for a few days, and his touch is so hot… but also… There is this awareness that he’s a ruthless Rogue Prince that I used to hate with my whole heart.

I still remember all his war crimes. All the dismembered werewolves both in human and wolf forms, laying on the blood-covered battlefields after he cruelly cut them with his sword—even after already winning the fight…

“I’m sorry, I can’t… I can’t.” I grab his wrist, and he immediately stops touching me.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, rolling on his back immediately, giving me some much-needed space.

There is a quick knock and Klara steps inside with my breakfast.

Thanks to the Goddess, because as much as I am a fan of healthy communication—there is no way in hell I’m telling him how I just mentally cockblocked myself. Not if I want to live my life comfortably with him on my side. And him on my side? It’s my only fucking option.

Even if I took his offer to be with my parents for a few years, I would still have to come back to him for the rest of my life.

“Thank you, Klara. You make me feel like a queen,” I take the tray from her, before she bows and quickly gets out.

I put the tray on my lap and dig into the delicious breakfast. I feel Cain’s eyes on me, but I ignore him.

He grunts and gets up. He’s naked for some reason, and sports a semi-hard-on. He does some push-ups and goes to the restroom. I can hear him pee, and I dream about living in a place with soundproof rooms again someday. I need to pee, too, so I go as soon as he’s out.

When I’m out, Cain is almost dressed in his usual black attire, and I go back to bed to finish my breakfast with slight disappointment—I’m almost used to not being able to clean my hands in a normal sink. Almost.

“I’ll come to pick you up later. Wear your sexy leather pants,” he says, strapping all his knives to his torso.

Pick me up? Pants? Oh, for the date. I keep forgetting he asked me out after making me blow him in his office. How romantic , I want to laugh.

“I guess your father will be absent,” I murmur, rolling my eyes.

He goes rigid for a brief moment, and then starts walking to the bathtub—while passing me he leans down to my right ear and whispers, in his husky deep voice: “I’ll kill him for you someday, but please be a good girl in the meantime.”

I blink my eyes in shock.

Did he… did he just tell me he ’ll kill his father? For me? What the heck does it even mean? Is it some sick game of his? It can’t be literal, right? Is it his idea of foreplay?

I look at him stunned. He smirks and grabs his sword.

“But seriously, remember about wearing pants.”

“Okay, I will,” I say with my mouth full of buttered toast.

“I have to go now, but I’ll come to pick you up around noon.”

“Okay.”

He comes to my side of the bed and leans over.

“I love you,” he says absently—like it is only a simple goodbye—and kisses my shocked self on the lips.

What the heck?

He stops the kiss and looks at my wide eyes with furrowed brows.

“I don’t know why I said that. But you are my wife so deal with it. See you later.” He turns and goes out.

I look at the closed doors blankly.

I can’t stop thinking about his I love you long after he’s gone. I know he didn’t mean it, but part of me is afraid it was his subconsciousness really starting to feel the true mate bond between us.

And it scares me to the bones.

I quickly put on a dress, just in case I meet the King, and run off to the library—desperate to finally find what I’m looking for.

I can’t let Cain feel the mate bond! Even if he’ll finally be mature enough, or whatever really lets werewolves feel our true mates—he will still be a ruthless Rogue Prince who can’t have a weak spot. He already choked me to the point of brain damage, because he thinks he has some feelings for me.

I can’t be his true mate, his weak spot, I just can’t.

Fuck! I need to reject him as soon as possible.